News

September, 5

R Kelly: Risque hasn't gone away

R Kelly has been all about romance on his last two albums, but the R&B star insists he isn't going to abandon the raunch that helped make him famous.

"Absolutely not, and I tell people all the time," he said. "Make no mistake about it, R Kelly is not going anywhere, it's just that R Kelly has such a unique talent, and I've been blessed to be able to do all type of genres of music... I'm exploring my gift right now."

Kelly's recent Write Me Back and 2010's Love Letter were a departure of sorts for the singer-songwriter, whose hits include classics like Your Body's Callin'.

He described those albums as a way of taking a break from his typical explicit material to try something new.

"When you've done twentysomething years, man, of giving people what they want, and satisfying people - people like to say they're making babies off your music, they're doing all this - it makes me feel good, but at the same time, it makes me say, 'OK, now it's time to go and do something that's in me that I want to do and get out'," he said.

He said his upcoming album will be on more familiar R Kelly ground.

"The name of my next album is Black Panties - that's my next 12 Play," he said, referring to his classic album filled with sexual material. "I'm going to have some fun on it."

Kelly also plans to have fun on his upcoming Single Ladies North American tour, which kicks off on October 13 in South Carolina and runs through December.

Kelly is also focusing on the next chapters in his Trapped musical soap opera. He has been filming in his native Chicago and promises new characters and more surprises.